We've inferred that Trump's trade war with China would not end anytime soon and even that was based on the assumption that American and Chinese trade officials would meet for talks this month, but talks have been postponed again.
Talks have been tentatively scheduled for September since Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in late June, but talks have now been pushed back to October.
The meeting was arranged during a phone call between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on its website. China’s central bank governor Yi Gang was also on the call.
U.S. President Donald Trump had previously said the sides expected to meet in September. News that the face-to-face talks were scheduled sent Asian, European and U.S. stock markets higher, with all three major U.S. stock indices touching over a month high.
There's absolutely no reason for markets to surge higher just because Trump's lackeys are going meet with their Chinese counterparts next month as those talks are unlikely to yield any results, but I digress.
I think we can say with near certainty that Trump's trade will persist through the holidays and well into the new year and campaign season and, at that point, I wonder if Trump will even be able to let go of it.
If Trump makes his trade war with China a key pillar of his reelection campaign, will he even be able to make a deal? I mean, the question may be a misnomer given that Trump isn't willing or capable of making a deal even when he's not actively campaigning, but making the trade war central to his 2020 campaign will make it necessary to perpetuate the war.
He's already doing it.
....And then, think what happens to China when I win. Deal would get MUCH TOUGHER! In the meantime, China’s Supply Chain will crumble and businesses, jobs and money will be gone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2019
Trump says he will "get much tougher" on China during a hypothetical second term in office so, if you -- the average American consumer -- want to get fucked even harder by Trump's stealth taxes, go ahead and vote for him.
Democrats cannot afford to legitimize Trump's trade war by paying lip service to "unfair trade practices" or whatever buzzword you for prefer for vaguely co-signing his war because he's going to run on it.
Beto O'Rourke had it right when he pledged to end Trump's trade war on day one. I'd like to see other candidates say the same thing and perhaps they will in the coming months as the bad economic news piles up.